Battle of Acheron
The Battle of Acheron was an attack on the Allegiance world of Acheron by The Swarm. The Battle From intelligence gathered from the HMS Watchman during the Battle of the Antaeus Nebula, the Allegiance predicted that the Swarm capital ships were vulnerable to Allegiance warships and fighters, when stripped of their fighter complement. From early in the Battle, the Swarm attempted to swamp the Allegiance Taskforce in fighters, then while they were distracted, destroy them with warships. However, the Allegiance planned for this. As the hordes of Swarm fighters flooded toward the Allegiance, a point-defence screen of one hundred and fifty Apollo-class Frigates and twenty Artemis-class Patrol Ships jumped behind the oncoming fighters. The Swarm starfighters took heavy losses before they could react. The Allegiance forward forces could take on the fighters but not the oncoming heavy Swarm battleships. A trio of Ares-class Battleships, followed by an Athena-class Cruiser, twelve Triton-class Heavy Destroyers and two Hera-class Carriers jumped into the middle of the Swarm formation, causing them to split into two sections. They punched through the enemy fleet, losing a Triton-class and taking heavy damage to one of the Ares-class. After breaking through they swung around, pummelling the Swarm with their broadside guns. The Apollo-class Frigates that had jumped forward early in the battle now did so again, right into the heart of the Swarm fleet. They took heavy casualties but were able to dump their starfighter load. The Swarm now had too many targets to focus on. Their fleet began to splinter into smaller groups as they attempted to deal with every enemy unit at once. The rest of the Allegiance fleet now began their moves. Two pronged attacks, flanking the Swarm on either side, spearheaded by the resilient Athena and Hera-classes and the long range guns of the Ares-class. Six battlegroups to port, seven to starboard. This added to the pressure the Swarm fleet had on them from behind. The remaining Apollo-class Frigates broke through to the back to join the small rear assault force, further splitting the Swarm formation. As the two prongs pushed forward the last Allegiance forces that were hanging back were just about to jump forward to engage at close range and finish them off, when enemy contacts appeared behind them. A second, smaller Swarm force- too large for the remaining Allegiance ships to take on. The rearguard Allegiance Battlegroups were caught off-guard, and a few fell quickly. The battle soon became split into two- one with the Allegiance winning, the other with them losing. As both battles drew to a close, the remaining forces converged and clashed once more. The senior officer of the remaining Allegiance forces, Captain John Bradley, ordered a cunning tactic. He advanced with his ships in three columns, with the middle one advancing first. The middle one charged right at the Swarm's formation, taking heavy casualties. The two remaining columns encircled the Swarm warships and assaulted them. Without their starfighter support they quickly yielded to the enemy fire. This manoeuvre later became known as the Spearhead Manoeuvre. Aftermath A few Swarm ships broke through an opening in the circle. They were tracked by a small stealth ship to a planet called Chiaras, previously thought to be uninhabited by the Allegiance. Shortly after this the Allegiance invaded in the Battle of Chiaras. Taskforce Gamma did not participated in this battle due to their heavy casualties.